Sound of Music Experience

I woke up this morning and almost broke into tears. I have never felt that way about the ending of a show. Let me back up. My stake does a big musical about once every four years. Like the Olympics, but with more music. This year was The Sound of Music. When they announced it I knew I was going to audition. I'm not going to lie, one of my dream roles is to play Maria so I thought I'd audition just for that reason. My thought was it's just a church show so it won't be a big deal. I was wrong. But I'm still jumping a head. I received a call from a women in the stake named Judy Hut. She asked me if I'd be willing to be on the production team and to be one of the directors. I'm not sure who gave her my name at the time I cursed them, now I would thank them. I told her that I was planning on auditioning for Maria and she said that would be fine.

Audition day came. I told Judy that to be fair I didn't want to be in the audition process. I didn't think it would be fair for me to listen to everyone audition and then audition myself and it wouldn't be fair for me to be deciding on parts. So on the day of the auditions I helped everyone get checked in and organized. It was a lot of fun to see how many people came and to help them through the audition process.

I did make call-backs. It was myself and another girl named April that were up for Maria. The other directors decided that whomever was Maria, the other would be Elsa (engaged to Captain before he falls in love with Maria). Well after a long evening of singing and acting the next morning I found out that April got the part. I was upset. I thought the audition went really well and that I rocked it. I actually cried. (I know, I'm silly). But I sometimes forget that things happen for a reason.

Since I was cast as Elsa I told the directors that I'd be willing to block the show. Blocking the show was a long process. It went WELL beyond the two night a week rehearsal schedule. I spent almost all of my lunch breaks going through the script and writing in the blocking. I spent a lot of my nights laying in bed thinking about the show and re-blocking and re-choreographing things. I refused to watch the movie version because I wanted to make things as original as I could. Thankful we had an AMAZING cast. I was shocked at how much talent was in our stake and I was shocked at how much support we received from members of the stake. I had so many ideas going through my head for this show that it was sometimes hard to figure out which was best.

The last few rehearsal I thought were going to kill me. I wasn't sleeping and wasn't eating much because I was so stressed out by how it was all going to come together. I blocked "Something Good" about three times because it never seemed right. Thankfully the cast trusted me and let me make changes. My biggest mistake was not having faith. I forgot that this was in Heavenly Father's hands not mine and that everything would work out for the best. When we performed our Thursday night dress rehearsal, I was able to sigh in relief. I had the thought, "this is actually going to come together." We still had some issues but I decided to turn my anxiety and worries off (well, as best I could).

Playing Elsa was an experience. Since I was spending so much time blocking the show, spending time on Elsa was put on the back burner. Usually I like to spend some time figuring out the character and getting my lines memorized. I've developed a lot of respect for Clint Eastwood since he directs and acts in his movies all the time. That's a lot of work that I wasn't prepared for. Thankfully, again, I worked with amazing cast members that helped me through it. The character is different from the character in the movie. She's not evil (not really). It was politics that separated the Captain and Elsa. In the first act she sings a really fun song about how they are both rich so how will their love survive. We laughed and flirted and it was fun. Then in the second act the mood changes between them. With Germany on the brink of invading Austria, Elsa had the opinion that what's going to happen is going to happen and you just need to go with the flow. The Captain was ready to fight against Germany. This drew a lot of tension which made the development of their last scene together a lot of fun. When we were first running it we played it like it was an ok breakup with no anger. Then one night in rehearsal during our song "There's No Way To Stop It", Wade (Captain) and I got really into it. We were bitter. Then the scene continued that way with anger and glares, etc. Once the scene was over in my head I thought "THAT'S IT!!" For those who have ever acted before, sometimes you have to play a scene in different ways to find the right direction. Wade and I played off each other so well, that the scene fell into place perfectly. I love moments when you have that realization of a perfect scene. It was a lot of fun to be able to play a character that shows emotions from both ends of the spectrum.

The biggest blessing that I received from this show was the friendships. There were two people that I got close to. We laughed, teased each other and loved to chat. That was April (yes, Maria and I became REALLY good friends) and Wade (the Captain). It was so nice to have people there that I could share frustrations I was having with the show and to always have one of them make me laugh and relax. I'll always remember running through the church (yes, we're bad) with April singing our own theme song. And secretly threatening to beat up people and singing a new breakup song with Wade. (we never hurt anyone).

 This is April and I in our dressing room. During the show I wore high heals and April wore uncomfortable shoes. Before the show (and any time we could) I'd wear my sketchers and she'd wear her slippers. We thought the foot attire went quite well with our outfits. We even went for a walk in between our Saturday show wearing them. We were a sight to see.

This is Wade and I before our last show. It's funny to say, but I've never had so much fun breaking up with someone night after night. I will miss Carl (Wade's alter-ego) and Wade's creepy way of saying "soft and white".

This show has changed my life. Like I mentioned before, I was very sad for it to end. I wanted to keep performing again and again. I think it was because of the life changing moments I had. Most of them were internal. I know that my Heavenly Father was speaking to me throughout this show helping me to be a better person and helping me get through different things in my life. I wish that I could put into words how much this show has meant to me. I woke up this morning wanting to live more. I want to sing, run, dance, play with my family, play with my friends (old and new), and change the world. I'm so full of life and wanting to make mine better. I don't know if it's because the taste of the theater was brought back, the new friendships, the message the show shares, the spirit I could feel during the process or all of the above but I truly have been changed. This blog might not make any sense at all but it's the best I can do. I have so many emotions and thoughts going through my head trying to express how I feel so I apologize if my three readers get confused with what I'm trying to share.

I hope that you had an opportunity to see this wonderful production. I will never forget it. If you missed it, let me leave you with some advice that I hope to live my. "A dream that will need, all the love you can give. Every day of your life, for as long as you live. Climb every mountain, ford every stream. follow every rainbow, Till you Find your Dreams".